Mathematics Achievement under the Merdeka Curriculum: A Document Analysis of Grade VII Summative Assessment Results

Mathematics achievement under the Merdeka Curriculum remains important, particularly in understanding how students’ initial abilities relate to end-of-semester performance. Existing studies have examined mathematics achievement and Initial Mathematical Ability (IMA) separately, while evidence linking IMA to end-of-semester assessment performance at the junior secondary level remains limited. This study aimed to describe students’ mathematics performance based on IMA and final semester assessment results and identify differences across mathematical domains. A document analysis design was employed using assessment records from 158 Grade VII students at a public junior high school in Medan. Data comprised an IMA test as the initial assessment and a final semester summative assessment as the post-assessment. Descriptive statistics and normalized gain analysis were used. The findings indicated moderate descriptive progress, with most students performing near or above the expected proficiency level. Geometry was the weakest assessed domain. These findings provide a descriptive profile of mathematics performance but do not establish the effectiveness of the Merdeka Curriculum, particularly because the two assessments may differ in content and measurement characteristics. Teachers can use domain-level assessment results to provide targeted support, especially in geometry, while future research should employ comparable longitudinal or quasi-experimental assessments.